Team NASAMAX
Passing (Through) Scrutineering 10.06.03

As is traditional during Le Mans race week, all the runners in this year’s endurance classic attended scrutineering in the Place des Jacobins, overseen by the Cathedral in the old part of town. Fears that Tuesday's activities would be disrupted by French trade union action proved to be unfounded. There were protests, but these manifested themselves initially, and bizarrely, in the spreading of tons of shredded white paper around the surrounding streets (giving the impression that somebody’s wedding had gone horribly wrong), and then later in the form of a parade of music-led chanting and flag waving.

The Goh Audi got things rolling at 9.00, being the first to go through the process. At this point the crowds were starting to build, though considerably down on the previous afternoon’s crush, due mainly to France returning to work after Monday’s bank holiday, and partly due to there having been an almighty thunderstorm just an hour beforehand.

The Team NASAMAX Reynard 01Q-Cosworth had the 9.50 – 10.20 slot and the car arrived at 9.35, closely followed by the minibuses carrying the crew. It wasn’t the most glamorous entry for the green-fuelled car, arriving on the back of a recovery lorry, but it was certainly a lot easier to get this vehicle through the city centre traffic than a 40’ transporter. Besides, as crew chief Vince Moutrille explained “we’ve got the transporter set up for the race, so we aren’t going to disrupt that when we don’t have to.” A crowd quickly formed around the lorry and the team members diplomatically held onlookers back as the car was wheeled off and parked up in the queue.

The team now had 15 minutes to kill before they were summoned. So what would they be doing this morning? Gavin Milne, data engineer: “Not a lot! Today’s basically a free day. We did a dummy run last night that went fine, which is nice as we’re normally working right up to the cars hitting the track. This time the data is sorted.”

For Vince and Nigel Tee, the team’s gearbox man, today is almost frustrating. “The car has already been through the scrutineering process a month ago at the test weekend, and we’ve only made small changes to the car since then so we’ve got nothing to worry about,” said Nigel. Other team members got stuck into handing out NASAMAX postcards and goodies, and passing pushchairs were slapped with a team sticker.

John McNeil and Brian Ireland arrived at this point, closely followed by Werner Lupberger who was swiftly ushered towards admin. by the team.

By 10.00, the car still had not been called and the crowd was building rapidly. The addition of the Lister Storm on one side and the GNM Saleen on the other did not help the situation. Thankfully, the call came five minutes later and the car was pushed through the parting crowd to the start of the scrutineering ‘tunnel’. Once the Racer’s Group Porsche ahead had moved on, the car began the first stage of the process. Seven of the team went with the car, leaving the rest to wander alongside on the other side of the barrier.

This first stage was literally a tick-box exercise, with the paperwork being checked for accuracy and completeness. Vince, being French, was the obvious liaison with the ACO officials. An example of the questions asked came when Vince asked Brian Richardson, the team ‘sparks’, what colour the LEDs on the wing mirrors were. “Green. What else would it be?” came the response. LEDs on wing mirrors? “So that we can identify the car as it comes up the pitlane at night; though we may have to rethink that as quite a few of the other teams are using green as well,” explained Brian.

The team’s three drivers, all suited and booted, waited around like everyone else; signing autographs, chatting to friends, press and spectators, and reading the local press coverage of the previous day’s scrutineering.

At 10.35 the Reynard was wheeled onto the weighbridge, and the car measured all round for compliance with the regulations.

Ten minutes later the French officials were inspecting the car’s underside as it sat on the hydraulic lift, ensuring the flat-bottom, overhangs and diffuser were all in compliance. This turned out to be the fastest stage of the process, and the team swiftly arrived at the final stage – safety checks.

By the time the car had completed the scrutineering process (any issues, John McNeil? “Not one!”), the clock had rolled on to 11.20 and we weren’t done yet. Now it was time for the official team photographs. The drivers worked the lines of autograph hunters and yet more freebies were handed out to the crowd while the car was readied.

First the drivers and then the full team lined up alongside the beautifully presented car, a vision in green, the team smiling proudly up at the massed photographers on the ‘bus' (below).

At 11.30 it was all over for the crew, but not for the drivers who still had to be interviewed on the ACO stage. The French interviewer spoke first to Romain Dumas in his native tongue before asking Robbie Stirling (in English) how he felt about being involved in the NASAMAX project. “It’s great because it’s history in the making. It’s a great idea, and as we develop the bio-ethanol fuel we’ll show that it can race effectively against fossil fuel.” He then asked Werner Lupberger if he likes the idea of running in a green car. “It’s very special as this is possibly the way motorsport is going in the next few years. I’ll be watching the project develop with immense interest and hoping that I’ll be asked to drive in future races!”

With that, it was time to get back in the minibuses and return to the circuit. After some very hard work in recent weeks, the team members were making the most of this relaxed time because they only had thirty hours until qualifying!

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